1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a method for automatically discovering a transaction gateway daemon of a specified type, such as a Customer Information Control System (CICS) transaction gateway daemon running on the z/OS operating system. (CICS and z/OS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and other countries). More particularly, the invention pertains to a method of the above type wherein the gateway is connected between servers such as a Java-enabled application server and a CICS transaction server. (Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries). Even more particularly, the invention pertains to a method of the above type wherein a series of tests is carried out on a detected address space, in order to confirm that the address space is in fact a transaction gateway of the specified type.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, it is common for banks, other commercial institutions and government agencies to extensively use mainframe computers and associated transaction servers, wherein the mainframe program software is comparatively old. For example, the CICS transaction server, a product of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), is on the order of 40 years old. (CICS is an acronym for Customer Information Control System). However, applications required for important commercial transactions are now usually written in much newer programming languages, such as Java or C++. Thus, it has become necessary to provide a mechanism for efficiently integrating applications on a Java-enabled server or the like, with business systems running on a much older transaction server. A mechanism of this type can comprise a transaction gateway daemon or like address space, which is connected between the application enabled server and a mainframe transaction server.
Operation of an ATM provides a common illustration or example of a configuration that combines older and newer components. When a user accesses an ATM at a location in California to obtain currency, a transaction is commenced at the ATM site by a Java application, routed to a data center in Denver, and then routed to a CICS transaction server at the user's bank in Chicago. Along its route, the transaction must pass through one or more transaction gateways of the type described above. The transaction is monitored by an operator, who may be located at the bank or elsewhere.
If a problem occurs in the transaction, an important function of the monitor operator is to locate the problem along the transaction route. The operator can then take measures to correct the problem. For example, the operator could be notified that the ATM user had not received the desired amount of currency. In order to determine the location of the problem, the monitoring operator must first identify each transaction gateway that has been configured along the transaction route. It would be very beneficial to provide a tool or method that could automatically locate and verify each such transaction gateway, without the need to seek information from system customers or others.